ESP partners with Josh Middleton for the LTD Signature Series JM-II

As well as the all-new Arctic Metal Series, ESP has announced a fresh addition to its LTD Signature Series for 2021 – the JM-II, designed in collaboration with Architects/Sylosis guitarist Josh Middleton.

The JM-II is a variation on ESP's Superstrat-style M-II model, and boasts an alder body with a quilted maple top finished in a particularly eye-catching Black Shadow Burst.

The guitar also features an extra thin U-shaped three-piece maple neck with a bolt-on construction, a 24-fret Macassar ebony fingerboard with Luminlay side dot markers and a recessed Gotoh tune-o-matic bridge for ultra-low-profile string action.

Pickups include a set of Fishman Fluence Modern Humbuckers, which are controlled by singular volume and tone controls – the latter of which can be used to switch between active and passive voicings.

The JM-II also sports a see-through natural body binding, a throwback to the first ESP LTD guitar Middleton owned, the MH-301.

“The prime focus of this guitar, for me, is something that sounds amazing recorded,” Middleton says. “I do a lot of production, engineering guitar tones, nerding out on guitar tones. I obsess over my main rhythm tone, and I want a guitar that sounds great and is inspiring to play.

He goes on, “This is by far my favorite guitar, already, that I own. I love it, I can't get enough.”

For more information on the new LTD Signature Series JM-II, head to ESP Guitars.